More infrastructure is in store for Panama for 2015.

An environmental impact study has been presented for the design and construction of the fourth bridge over the Panama Canal, connecting the East and West sectors and in turn Metro Line 3. with an initial cost of $1 billion.

The government of Panama has presented an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the design and construction of a fourth bridge over the Canal, which will connect the areas of Arraijan and La Chorrera, in the west, to Panama City, via the Pacific Canal sector.

It is stated in the EIA that the estimated that the overall cost of the project is $1 billion.

“… The project for the Fourth Bridge (the project) consists of the design and construction of a bridge crossing the Panama Canal and its approaches and connections to existing roads to the east and west of the Canal, located to the north side of the existing bridge of the Americas, as shown in Figure ES-1. The main section of the bridge, which crosses the Canal, will be bow type made of steel with a slope of 4%.

“… The length of the bridge abutments will be 840 meters, with a center span of 540 meters in length and the approach segments will measure 150 meters each (300 m). The clearance of the bridge over the water level of the canal is 75 meters. It will have three lanes of 3.65 meters in each direction (six lanes in total) for transit vehicles, and on the south side will cross the tracks and facilities of the Metro Line 3 for what a 16 m wide strip has been reserved . ”

“… Among the physical alternatives analyzed for this study were choices for selecting the type of structure to be used for the passage of the Panama Canal, the selection of the alignment for the passage of the Canal and the decision to Make or Not Make Project . “